New Vision in the Desert

THE MUKAAB IS SAUDI ARABIA'S LATEST BID TO CHANGE ITS IMAGE

- DAMIEN MARTIN

At 400 cubic meters (1312 cubic feet), it would be one of the biggest structures in the world, large enough to contain 20 Empire State Buildings. The walls would feature floor-to-ceiling video screens. And the whole thing would look remarkably similar to the Kaaba, the holiest site in Islam. It’s the Mukaab, and it’s the latest ambitious architectural plan from Saudi crown prince and de facto ruler Muhammed bin Salman and the country’s Public Investment Fund.

STEPPING INTO THE FUTURE

The Mukaab is planned to be the cornerstone of New Murabba, “the world’s largest modern downtown,” a 19-square-kilometer (11.8 sq. mi.) addition to the Saudi capital of Riyadh. The development calls for 80 entertainment venues, 9,000 hotel rooms, and 104,000 residential units, all within a 15-minute walk. It’s part of a plan to double the size of Riyadh over the next 10 years.

The announcement of New Murabba and the Mukaab follows plans for NEOM, a sprawling megaproject in Saudi Arabia’s northwest that would be 33 times the size of New York City. MBS, as the prince is known, first announced that project in 2017 and followed up with the idea of 105-mile-long city called “The Line” with “zero cars, zero streets, and zero emissions” in 2021.